Monbukagakusho Scholarship Socialization with the Embassy of Japan in Jakarta

On Wednesday 20 March 2024, the Bachelor Program in Japanese Language and Culture held a Monbukagakusho/MEXT scholarship outreach with the Embassy of Japan in Jakarta with Fenny Gunadi who is the Study Abroad Advisor and First Secretary Kawakubo Yuriko, Education Section of the Embassy of Japan as speakers. This activity was attended by our program’s students from various classes.

The Monbukagakusho or MEXT Scholarship is a scholarship from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan aimed at academics from outside Japan with the intention of studying in Japan. These scholarships are divided into various levels of education, from Diploma to Doctoral level. At the Diploma level there are two scholarship options, namely the Specialized Training College (Senshu) and College of Technology (Kosen) scholarships. For undergraduates there are Undergraduate (Gakubu) scholarships. Meanwhile, for Masters and Doctoral degrees, there are Research Student scholarships. Apart from that, there are non-degree scholarship programs such as the Japanese Studies scholarship for exchange students from the Japanese Studies department and Teacher Training for active Japanese language teachers in formal schools.

For students of the Bachelor Program in Japanese Language and Culture, there are two scholarships that can be utilized and it is worth understanding the flow. Those are the Japanese Studies Scholarship and Research Student Scholarship. The Japanese Studies Scholarship has two admission routes, namely G to G (Government to Government) and U to U (University to University). In the G to G flow, students will go through a selection with two screening stages. The first stage (primary screening) is the selection process for applicants within the same country, then the second stage (secondary screening) is the selection of applicants between countries. On the other hand, the U to U scholarship flow is implemented with universities from Japan directly selecting applicants between countries. Then for Masters or Doctoral level students, there are Research Student scholarships with several additional selections. Not only academics, scholarships are also open to Japanese language teachers, namely the Teacher Training program for 18 months. The program is divided into six months of Japanese language study and 12 months of training.

With the opportunities opened by the Japanese government, students, academics and teachers can continue their studies in Japan for free. Not only knowledge, the experience of studying in Japan will be an invaluable selling point for those who succeed in getting this opportunity. Therefore, it is hoped that this outreach can prepare students who are interested in applying for scholarships more thoroughly.